1. Field of the Invention
With regard to the classification of art, this invention is believed to be found in the general class for Supports and more particularly to those subclasses pertaining to the removable mounting of a car shaker vibrator to a railroad car.
2. Description of Related Art
Railroad hopper cars are used to transport various types of material such as; coal, cement, chemicals, flour, grains and the like. Usually, transporting the material from one site to another results in compaction thereof. After compaction, the materials generally are jammed and do not flow easily upon the opening of the hopper car discharge gate or gates. Generally a car-shaker vibrator is removably attached to the railroad hopper car for breaking loose the jammed material and maintaining its flow until the car is nearly emptied. Removable or detachable vibratory railroad car shaker apparatus are known in the field. Exemplary brackets and tools for the removable mounting of a vibrator to a railroad car are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,733 that issued to Petersen on Oct. 10, 1961; U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,431 that issued to Matson on Aug. 26, 1969; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,588 that issued to the present inventor on May 9, 2000. U.S. Pat. No. 7,195,217 that issued to the present inventor on Mar. 27, 2007 is solely owned by him and discloses a bracket that uses the forces generated by a vibrator for seating and loosening bracket from the railroad car. U.S. Pat. No. 7,458,547 that issued to the present inventor on Dec. 2, 2008 is solely owned by him and discloses an expandable bracket for mounting a vibrator to a railroad car. These patents disclose a common type of separable male/female bracket arrangement. Usually the female portion of the bracket is attached to a hopper portion of a railroad car. This type of bracket is sometimes referred to as a Gardner or Tyler type and generally has a C-shaped seat or pocket portion (i.e. a wedge, dovetail or the like.) The male portion generally may be characterized as a T-shape that has a blade member (i.e. male wedge, male dovetail or the like) and a reduced connector portion (i.e. web, neck, leg and the like). U.S. Pat. No. 3,003,733 also discloses a wedge shaped tool for separating the male portion from the female portion of the bracket. U.S. Pat. No. 3,463,431 discloses a threaded means for retaining the male portion of the bracket in the female portion of the bracket. U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,588 that issued to the present inventor and is solely owned by him discloses a tool that may be employed for releasing the wedge from the female portion or half.
All of the above listed patents are attempts to improve the installation and removal of railroad car shakers at their point of use. However, the listed patents may not be practical in application to all the railroad cars that are used for the conveyance of materials due to either the wear of the female portion of the bracket or the mounting location of the female bracket or the type of female bracket (Garner, Tyler, or Newer Low Cost style). The end user therefore must be prepared to mount his car shaker on various railroad cars with various brackets and mounting conditions. This situation requires multiple types of male brackets be in stock at the discharge site.
It has been determined that there is a need for a male bracket that may couple a car shaker vibrator to most of the current railroad cars and be easily removable there from.
The present invention is believed to solve the identified need by providing the end user with at least one type of male bracket for coupling a car shaker vibrator to a majority of the railroad cars in operation today.